


Little moments of happiness

by Rae_Saxon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cuz Sirius is very much alive in this and I don't care what you say, M/M, festive fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:47:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28263378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rae_Saxon/pseuds/Rae_Saxon
Summary: Sirius is determined to have a New Year's Eve party for Harry and Harry is determined to invite Draco Malfoy.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 76
Collections: Fanatical Fam's: Holiday Fic Exchange





	Little moments of happiness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [A_Door](https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Door/gifts).



> For Anne - Have a happy Christmas. <3

Harry was speeding down the stairs in high speed, little taps echoing down the hall and quickly turning into struggling, slithering sounds of a boy almost falling on his face because he was slipping on his socks.

“For God's sake, Harry!” Hermione had run from the kitchen into the hall, a concerned look on her face that quickly faded into annoyance. “You're going to get your neck broken before You-Know-Who can even find you.”

“The Boy Who Lived,” Ron called, a laugh caught in his voice “... To Fall Down The Stairs Dramatically.”

“I just... heard the door bell,” Harry replied sheepishly, a hand rubbing the back of his neck as he took the last few steps carefully.

“That was me,” Tonks announced with a cheerful smile. Her hair was pink today and her eyes sparkling in beautiful silver. “Here, I brought the decoration and stuff. I'd hang them up myself, but Molly gave me orders not to. Said something about me falling down and tearing everything down with me. No clue what she means.”

She handed Sirius, who had opened the door, a big box and stepped inside.

“How's it going?”

Remus came out of the living room to greet her, smiling. “I think everything's ready except for the decorations. Food's ready, Sirius made us all buy far too much alcohol than is good for teenagers. Harry has been ready for the past 2 hours and is running around a nervous wreck...”

“I am not a nervous wreck!” Harry called out, blushing promptly. “I'm just... you know... I never had a party.”

“And that's why we're doing this, mate,” Sirius grinned. “But you gotta keep some chill.”

“I'm... what?”

Sirius shrugged. “I have a lot of time to read in here. It's a word. Chill. Means 'not freaking out constantly'.”

“I'm not freaking out!” Harry insisted, feeling his stomach flutter and his hearts race. “I'm completely calm.”

Tonks gave him a wide grin and waved Hermione and Ron to follow her to hang up the decorations.

Harry considered following them, just to escape Sirius' wide grin, but before he could move, his Godfather had slung an arm around his shoulders and was pressing him against his chest.

“Come on, you can tell us now,” Sirius grinned. “Who is it?”  
  
“Who's what?” Harry asked, feeling a wave of cold dread rising inside of him.

“Who's the person you want to come this badly?”

“No one.” Coldness gripped for his hearts, making him freeze in Sirius grip. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Please.” Sirius gave a radiant smile towards Remus and Remus smiled back, looking a little dazed. “Like I've never thrown a party for Remus here. I was just like you. Camping at the door, hoping he'd come.”  
  
Remus rolled his eyes.

“Sirius, I was one of your best friends, why wouldn't I have come?”

“I was worried you'd have enough of me every day,” he shrugged and Remus snorted.

“No you weren't, you arrogant git.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Sirius lips.

“No, I wasn't.”

Harry watched the exchange carefully. They were getting all lovey-dovey which was good. Maybe they forgot all about him and he could just...

Carefully, he tried to wind himself out of Sirius' grip and duck down, but the hand on his shoulder suddenly tightened.

“So, you see, Harry, nothing you can't tell us,” he said louder, his eyes still pinned on Remus with a grin.

“Yeah,” Remus added, voice a bit gentler. “Actually, he's not wrong. You know you can always talk to us, right?”

Harry sighed.

“Course I do, you're my family. It's just.. it's complicated, okay?”

“Complicated?” They exchanged a glance over Harry's head. “What could be complicated about it? You like someone. You tell us who. Could be anyone. Any gender, really. Could be a house elf and I wouldn't be concerned about it.”

Remus frowned.

“I'd be a little concerned.”  
  
“Maybe a little concerned, yes. Don't date house elves, Harry.”

“It was your suggestion,” Harry replied dryly.

“Now, don't talk back to your elders, Harry,” Sirius smirked and he rolled his eyes.

“The point,” Remus tried again, louder. “Is that you can tell us. Whenever you feel like it. Really.”

“Well, I don't feel like it right now,” Harry replied. “And besides...”

Hermione, coming out of the living room, threw them a curious glance, making them all shut up and when she came out of the kitchen with a dozen champagne glasses in her arms, she gave them another curious look. Everyone was staring at her. She stood in the frame and stared back.

And then simply said, “It's Draco Malfoy,” before going back in.

For a moment, none of them said anything. Harry felt terror rising inside of him. Why did she know. How did she know. How _long_ had she known. Oh God, now _they_ knew, too. Oh no. No, no, no....

“A Malfoy?” both men said in unison, heads turning to him in the exact same time.

Harry swallowed hard.

“He's... not like...” Feverishly, Harry tried to think of a way to finish this sentence without lying. “He's...”

“A Malfoy!” both shouted again, so loud that Ron stuck his head into the hall, looking a bit disgusted.

“Malfoy? He's not coming, right? Someone tell me no one invited that git.”

“Oh,” Harry reacted immediately. “He's... turns out he did get an invite. Was an accident.”

“Ew,” Ron replied, pulling a face. “Well. Doesn't matter. He's not gonna come.”

“Right,” Harry replied. “Riiiight.”

That was his fear, too.

Ron disappeared back into the living room, leaving Harry alone with the two shocked faces of his godfather and his partner.

“You said I could tell you, no matter who,” he reminded them dully and they exchanged one last look, before sighing.

“Yes, well, it's just.. unexpected. Aren't you arch enemies or something?”

“He's not so bad,” Harry muttered. “I think a lot of his behaviour is just some mask he put on. Needs to be special and perfect for his father all the time. Or so he thinks. We... we talked a little, lately. Ever since...”

Ever since he'd found him in a girl's toilet, sobbing, with no company but the ghost of a dead girl.

“Well, a while ago,” he closed lamely.

“Oh, well,” Sirius finally brought out, looking a little tortured. “If he's... if he's nice to you...”

“Sure,” Harry quickly reassured him. “Draco. Nice to me. All the time. Totally!”

  
His life had turned into something odd, Harry thought as he looked at the crowded room of his loved ones, standing together and chatting, drinking and snacking. There was music on, muggle music he hadn't heard before – he was a bit out of the loop, but he could hear someone sing about New York a lot, so he assumed it was American – and everywhere he looked seemed to be a great mood.

There were people from his school, people from the order, Ron and Hermione dancing clumsily, hell, even Cormac McLaggen had been invited, apparently.

And even the strange seventh year Ravenclaw he'd never met before, who was apparently friends with Cormac and had advised him to close up the broom shed before the party, had come.

But most importantly, he had a family. A family he'd spent all of Christmas with – Sirius and Remus, the Weasleys, Hermione... Everyone had been there, sitting around the fire with him, listening to the stories about his parents and the things the marauders had been up to during school.

He'd never had this before.

He'd never had something as simple as New Year's Eve party either and when Sirius had suggested it, a gleam in his eyes that could only mean one thing – there was no one and nothing stopping him -, he'd been excited.

It was pretty great.

It really was.

There was just someone missing.

With a weird, sinking feeling in his stomach, Harry walked outside the Burrow, sitting on a dry patch on the porch, as he looked out onto the snow covered garden. His breath was going in little puffs and he hadn't bothered throwing over a coat, so he couldn't stay long, but for a minute he just needed some fresh air clearing his head. Needed to be alone a little.

He let his head sink, staring down at the wood of the stairs beneath him and that's when he heard footsteps crunching in the snow.

Harry looked up, his heart beating in wild hope.

There he stood – Weirdly illuminated by the moonlight reflected on the snow, by the lights coming from outside, all dressed in dark and covered in snowflakes.

“Hey!” Harry called out, a smile spreading on his face that he simply couldn't help. “You came.”

Draco rolled his eyes.

“I had nothing better to do.”

“Right.” Harry stopped his steps, already halfway towards him, a crooked smile on his face. “Wouldn't be here if the rich death eater life wasn't that boring, eh?”

“Shush,” he looked around frantically, the act immediately dropped. “No one needs to know. Please.”

“No one's gonna hear, they're all busy celebrating.” There was light music coming out to them. “Wanna go in?”

“In a minute,” Draco sighed, his eyes pinned to the windows. There were whirls and silhouettes of people laughing and dancing. He could see Sirius and Remus move way too fast for the track that was played. “It's weird, but that's how I feel all the time.”

“Cold and a little snowed in?” Harry suggested and caught one of these dismayed, sharp looks from Malfoy he liked so much.

“No. I mean. Like I'm standing outside somewhere. Looking in. I don't belong to them.”

Harry put his hands in his pockets, considering mentioning that he was _cold_ , but Draco so rarely opened up to him, he supposed he should take this rare opportunity.

“I mean, I don't know what to tell you, Malfoy,” he sighed. “I feel the same way. There's this... thing I gotta do that none of them have any idea about and it separates me from them. It always will.”

Draco finally pulled his eyes away from the window and Harry could see his fleeting glance on him.

“Right,” he finally brought out. “It's weird. You and me. How can we be... how can we get along when we're on different sides of the window?”

Harry snorted.

“You can say the word 'friend', Draco, it's not gonna bite you.”

He stepped closer towards the boy, arm linking with his.

“Far as I'm concerned? We're on the same side. You're being forced into something you clearly don't want to keep your family safe. And I... Well, I'm trying to keep mine safe.”

They looked at the door for a while.

“Wanna go in?” Harry asked again.

“No one likes me in there,” Draco replied, voice barely a whisper.

“I do,” was all he replied.

They exchanged a look and a first, tentative smile spread on Draco's face. He smiled so rarely and this wasn't his usual, smug, arrogant smirk, this was genuine. It made Harry's heart race so fast, he imagined it'd spring out of his chest any second now.

“Yeah, okay.”

  
They walked in together, through the empty hall and into the living room, where people froze as soon as they spotted them coming in, silence falling for a second, except for the sound of music. He could feel Draco tense beside him and made his decision quickly.

Grabbing his hand with his own, cold, stiff fingers, he pulled him into the middle of the room, laid a hand on his waist and started swaying them in tact with the music. Harry hated dancing, he was a horrendous dancer, all clumsy and self-conscious in his steps, but... well... when had he ever been able to resist _saving_ someone?

For a while, nobody else moved and no one said a word. Then Sirius grabbed Remus by the hip and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss, almost toppling him over. There was laughter breaking out in the room and one by one, the others started moving again, led by Sirius and Remus, who had started another fast-paced dance.

Harry could see the light blush on Remus' pale cheeks and grinned.

“See?” he whispered towards Draco, who was watching with wide eyes. “That's what it's all about.”

“Snogging?” he asked, a bit of his old Malfoy-indignation had returned into his voice.

Harry laughed, hoping it wasn't obvious how much he wanted 'snogging' to be part of today's plan.

“Finding happiness in the in-between moments. You know?”

“I suppose,” he replied, raising his chin. “I can do that.”

“Sure you can,” Harry smirked. “So. Let's dance all night and forget about the rest?”

He hoped he didn't sound quite as hopeful as he felt, but when Draco turned his head back to him, one eyebrow raised, his typical, smug Malfoy-smirk was visible on his face.

“If that's what you want, Potter... try to keep up.”

Draco Malfoy was an excellent dancer – Harry, not so much, but that was okay, because he let himself be led, whirled over the dance floor, completely knocked off his feet by the force of nature that was this boy. People around them had started to laugh and clap at the show and he felt his heart go lighter at the obvious swing of mood.

They simply accepted Draco because _he_ did.

Like family did.

  
Somehow, sometime, a few seconds, minutes, hours later - Harry had lost all track of time, couldn't tell anymore - he found himself hanging in the air, Draco's hand catching him, face hanging over his and his head was whirling, thoughts in array, before they finally quieted down as he saw those grey eyes coming closer.

“So,” Draco whispered and there was hot breath against Harry's lips. “What you said, about...”  
  
“Oh, shut up,” Harry called out, a hand going for his shirt as he pulled him closer, lips crashing against Draco's. They were cool and smooth and he got drunk on the taste. Draco held him steadily through it all, how, he wasn't sure, because Harry's legs had turned into pudding, while he buried his hands in the blond, soft hair, _pulling_.

Just for good measure.

Draco grinned against his lips, then pulled back, slightly breathless.

People around them were... clapping?

He helped him back to his feet and Harry straightened, feeling a bit nervous, but when he looked around, he was surrounded by amused faces, some maybe a little confused and cheers.

Well, okay. This was okay. At least the whole school would already know when they returned. No awkward outings.

That was okay.

He gave Draco a look and the boy was beaming.

He saw Remus and Sirius give him the thumbs up behind Malfoy's back, grinning wildly.  
  
“About time,” he heard Hermione mumble close from them and he saw Ron's slightly shocked gaze towards her.

“You knew about this?”

“It's a miracle no one else does,” she snorted. “They're obsessed with each other.”

Draco opened his mouth, his typical sneer already visible and Harry, in a quick decision, stepped on his foot.

“Ow! Hey!”

“Don't be rude,” he whispered. “I'd like them to be okay with this.”

“I'm not rude,” Malfoy called out so loud, Ron caught it and rolled his eyes with a snort.

“Maybe not when you sleep.”

“I'm not,” Draco replied, blushing slightly. “All I was gonna say is that... Oh, never mind.”  
  
With a swift move, he tore himself off Harry and rushed past the crowds outside.

Ron had the decency to look guilty.

“Sorry. I get you like him, but man. He... did it have to be him?”

“He's alright,” Harry replied, quietly, pleadingly. “I'll explain it to you later. I promise. But right now I gotta go after him. Promise to be nice? Please?”

Hermione looked at him with raised eyebrows and Ron rolled his eyes, but nodded.

“But he's gotta be, too.”

“He'll uhm... manage.”

And as Harry ran outside, he figured, that maybe, there was a spell or something. Like the one Rita used for her quill. To have everything Malfoy say come out a bit nicer. That might be the only way his friends and his.... boyfriend – Oh god, was Draco Malfoy his boyfriend now? - would get along.

  
He found him standing out in the gardens, drawing patterns into the snow with the tip of his boot awkwardly.

“What were you gonna say?” he asked, quietly, as he stepped closer, knowing Malfoy had long noticed him.

His eyes flickered upwards for a moment, before going back to face the snow.

“That I'm glad you have them,” he mumbles. “Cause there's no one I can talk to, not really. Crabbe and Goyle, they think it's all a great honour. Pansy too. I just... I dunno. I think you've got it better, alright? They might be annoying, but they're real friends.”

“They're pretty great,” Harry confirmed, wrapping an arm around Draco's shoulders. “And I'm sure they'll realise you're pretty great too,” he promised. “And until then you've always got me to talk to.”

Draco nodded, just once, head still turned downward to the snow, but a light smile on his lips.

  
They sat down on the porch again later that night, watching the fireworks going off over their heads. The Weasley's had all excitedly started off the one's Fred and George had brought and everyone was excited about it. It was pretty beautiful, he thought, as he watched the colours reflect in Draco's eyes.

The Slytherin was sitting next to him, eyes pinned to the sky, widened like a little child would.

When he noticed Harry's glance, he gave him an almost sheepish smile.

“I always liked fireworks. They give me the feeling that everything's alright, for a bit.”

“Yeah, I see what you mean.”

“Could you hurry?”

Harry frowned at him in confusion.

“Hurry with what?”

“Killing the Dark Lord? Could you hurry? I want my family back. I want them to be okay. I want... I want to be with you without this... Between us.”

Harry raised a hand, tentatively stroking over the pale skin of Draco's cheek. He'd wanted to do that for a long, long time now.

“Sure. Give me a pipe and five minutes, I'll just give him one over the head and it's over.”

Draco laughed.

“Just be careful, yeah? Don't you dare dying on me or some shit like that, Potter.”

It was almost a sneer. Almost.

“Yeah. You'll see. It'll be alright.” He nodded towards the sky, the lights exploding in beautiful colours and shapes. “We'll get a fresh start. One day. Without any of that. Until then...”

“Finding happiness,” Draco grinned. “Just us finding happiness in the little moments in between.”

“Exactly,” Harry winked, kissing his lips softly, still thrilled by the fact that he _could_. “Glad you got it.”


End file.
